FONT

SHARE THIS

MORE STORIES

Rangers drop a pair of close battles

Estacada led the league leaders in the fourth quarter before falling to North Marion

4A BOYS BASKETBALLTri-Valley Conference

Team

Score

#8 North Marion

60

Estacada

55

The Estacada boys basketball team suffered a pair of heart breakers over Valentines week, starting with a 60-55 home loss to first-place North Marion on Wednesday night.

The game saw 10 leads changes before Sergio Jimenez got to the front of the rim to put the Huskies ahead to stay 52-51 with 3:16 to play. Johnny Page added a free throw in the team's next possession, then Jared Hauser came up with the play of the night that denied Estacada a chance to get even.

He poked a ball loose, dived to the floor to secure it and alertly called for a timeout before a pack of white jerseys converged to tie him up.

"I saw their guard look away and it looked like an opportunity to swipe the ball," Hauser said. "I knew it would be a big play if we could snag it — we needed the ball."

The turnover became points on the offensive end when Jimenez took a jumper from the right side that clipped the side of the rim and tumbled over to make it a two-possession game.

Trash-talking on the way to the defensive end resulted in a technical foul. Estacada's Cody Syring sank both free throws to bring it back to a one-possession game with 2:04 left.

But Grant Henry hit the clinching basket with 0:47 left, while Estacada suffered a traveling violation and a missed 3-pointer down the stretch.

Estacada took an early 15-12 lead when Calvin Dryden drove the baseline and absorbed a bump on his way to the basket for a three-point play.

The Huskies would build an eight-point lead late in the first half only to see Estacada rush back with Dryden connecting on his third straight shot — a turn at the elbow that clipped the back of the rim, spun above the hoop and dropped through the net.

"We had a lot of energy during warmups and were keeping things light hearted," Dryden said. "That energy flowed through the whole team and helped us out a lot."

Nick Keller followed by taking two dribbles along the baseline before pulling up and swishing a 12-footer to put the Rangers up 28-27.

The third quarter turned into a duel between the night's two leading scorers with Hauser and Estacada's Calvin Dryden going back-and-forth on four straight possessions.

Hauser received a pass in the post, spun toward the middle and lifted a shot to the rim where it rolled along the edge of the iron in slow motion before trickling through the net. Dryden drove through a crowd for two at the other end, and Hauser responded by beating his defender down the baseline and lifting a layup over the side of the rim.

"I was able to penetrate and get to the basket, it's always pretty fun to feel that momentum going back and forth," Dryden said.

The opposing guards combined for 21 points in the quarter.

Dryden would get the last two in unlikely fashion when a teammate missed a 3 that was intended to be the final shot of the quarter. But Dryden soared up high and put the rebound off the glass and in before his feet touched the ground, beating the horn by the narrowest of margins to bring the Rangers within a point heading into the fourth quarter.

The Rangers pulled even at the five-minute mark when Dryden picked off a pass and beat three green jerseys to the hoop. Moments later, Estacada moved ahead 51-48 on a 3 by Cody Syring.

"The game was always right there on the edge, and we had to keep working together as a team," Dryden said.

The turning point came in the fourth quarter when Corbett's Preston Horvath picked off a cross-court pass and took it to the hoop for a three-point play.

An altercation after contact at the rim resulted in a technical foul whistled on an Estacada player. Dylan Paintner made both technical free throws, and the Cardinals got the ball back. Josh Newton was fouled on a drive to the basket and sank both of his free throws.

In a flash, Corbett saw a slim one-point lead grow to six points.

"it was truly a great team win on the road in a tough gym," Corbett coach Don Carter said.